Signal system for electric railways.



No. 595,122. Patented Mar. n, I902.

s.- a. STEWARL'JR.

SIGNAL SYSTEM FOR ELECTRIC RAILWAYS. (Application fllnd lay 18. 1899.) (No Iadul.) 2 Sheets-Shoat I.

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No. 695,122. Patented Mar. II, I902.

s. B. STEWART, 1n. SIGNAL SYSTEM FOR ELECTRIC RAILWAYS.

(Application flied m 18. 1899.) v (No Model.) 2 Sheets'-S'heet 2.

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UNITED STATES PATENT Ormcn.

SAMUEL I5. STEWART, JR, OF SOIIENEOTAD Y, NEYV YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEIV YORK.

SIGNAL SYSTEM FOR ELECTRiO RAlLWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 695,122, dated March 1 1, 1902.

Application filed May 18, 1899. Serial No. 716,637. (No model.)

To (tZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL B. STEWART, Jr., a citizen of the United States, residing at Schenectady, county of Schenectady, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Signal Systems for Electric Railways, (Case No. 1,000,) of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to surface-contact electric railways, the object being to provide a series of signal devices located along the track or adjacent thereto capable of automatic control to indicate the condition of the contact devices and act as a telltale, showing whether or not they are alive. This is desirable in order to avoid danger from the exposed contacts to people or animals crossing the track and permits casualties from this cause to be avoided by notifying motormen or other employees when the magnetically-operated cireuit-controlling devices are out of order.

In carrying out my invention I provide a series of electrically-controlled signal devices adjacent to the track and connected with the surface contacts, so that when a current is flowing through any one of the latter the signal device will be operated. I provide also a magnetically-controlled device for automatically throwing a resistance into the circuit which controls the signal device after the signal has been operated. I preferably arrange the circuit so that this resistance may serve also for toning down the current in the piclc up magnet after the circuit-closer has been operated.

My invention therefore comprises, in connection with a sectional or distributed contact electric-railway system, a signal device electrically controlled and supplied with current only when the distributed contacts are alive with current,

It comprises also other more specific features, which will be hereinafter particularly described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation showing the mechanical construction of signal device embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is a diagram of an electric-railway system, showing the mode of controlling the signal dericei Referring, first, to Fig. 1, I house within a box capable of being opened and closed by a door a signal-controlling magnet 1, the armature 2 of which is pivoted to a bent or bellcrank lever 3, on the end of which is mounted a semaphore or signal disk 4. A counterweight 5 is attached to the bent lever or its axis, so as to give easy control of the signaldisk l. The latter when in the position shown in the drawings is hidden by the door of the box; but when the magnet is energized its armature 2 is attracted and a slot-and-pin connection permits sufficient freedom of movement with relation to the short arm of the lever 3 to raise the diskeinto registry with a window in the top of the box. The wall back of this window may be painted any suitable color-say white--and the semaphore blade or disk may be painted a contrasting color. In the box is also mounteda controlling-magnet, commonly designated as a pick-up magnet 6, which operates an armature 011 which is carried an insulated bridge-piece '7, formed of a bundle of thin phosphor-bronze or copper laminae and adapted to bridge the terminals 8 8, connecting, respectively, with a supply main or feeder and with an exposed contact of the railway system, commonly a rail or conducting-spot on the track-surface, 8o rigidly supported and adapted to be engaged by a collector rail or shoe carried by a traveling car. The circuit-breaker is provided also with a blow-out magnet 9, which pro vides a dense magnetic field and blows out the are tending to form between the auxiliary carbon contacts in a shunt around the cir Quit-breaker at which the circuit is opened a moment later than the rupture between the bridge-piece 7 and the terminals 8 S. An arc-interrupting circuit-breaker of this type of construction is known in the art and need not, therefore, be more elaborately discussed.

Referring now to Fi .2, it will be seen that the signal-controlling magnet 1 is electrically 9 5 connected with the surface contact 10, and the circuit-controlling or pick-up magnet 6 is connected with the surface contact 10. The traveling car (represented at 11) is pro vided with two shoes electrically connected I00 and engaging, respectively, the surface contacts 1O 10, of which 10 is the working conductor and 1O is the switch-energizing conductor. The surface contacts in the type of system shown are rails and the collectors short shoes or brushes engaging said rails. These parts might obviouslybe reversed and the contacts be distributed metal spots adapt- .ed to be bridged by collector-rails mounted on the car as the latter travels along the line of way. The circuit-breaker controlled by the pick-up magnet is shown at 7 and the blow-out coil or magnet at 9. I provide a resistance 12, adapted to be interposed between the signal-controlling magnet and the pickup magnet, respectively, and the ground wire or return 13. The armature of the pickup magnet 6 operates a lever 16, on which is mounted a movable bridge-piece adapted to open a normal short-circuit around this resistance, thereby cutting the resistance in on the signal-coil and the pick-up coil and preventing overheating in case of a failure to open the circuit after the car has passed. The chief object of the resistance is, however, to reduce the current flowing through.

the pick-up coil after it has closed the switch and to reduce the current which flows through the signal-coil after it has operated the signal. a momentary'current may be supplied to the pick-up magnet if the contact-rail should be disconnected from its feed-wire, as it would be in case of a stop.

As thus organized the signal operates as follows: The normal condition "is shown at the right in Fig. 2, and the active position when a car passes at the left. The car' in passing from one rail-section to the next causes its collector brushes or shoes to bridge the adjacent rail ends, thereby diverting a branch current from the contact-rail it is just leaving to-ground through the one in advance and energizing both the signahnagnet 1 and the pick-up magnet 6, the former over a path from the contact 10, blow-out magnet 9, signal-magnet, across the bridge-piece 17, and around the short circuit for the resistance 12 to the ground-wire or return-rail 13. A second branchis diverted from the conductor 10 through the magnet 6 and bridge-piece 17 to the ground'return. The pick-up magnet thereby operates the circuit-closer, bringing the bridge-piece 7 across terminals 8 8, and a rod 15, pivoted onthe armature, engages the spring-pressed lever 16 and opens the short circuit around the resistance 12, thereby cutting in said resistance and preventing damage if the circuit should remain closed for a prolonged period and reducing the amount of energy needed to maintain the signal and the feeder-switch 7 in position. This is evi dently possible, since the amount of magnetomotive force necessary to hold a magnet closed is much smaller than that necessary to close it. As soon as the feeder-switch? is closed the operation of the signal is maintained by current which flows in shunt to the motor-circuit through the conductor 8 instead of in The car carries a battery 14, by which shunt to the motor-circuit through the con doctor-section 10. The advantage of having the signal in shunt to ground is that only a small portion of the main current passes through it, and'the advantage of having a signal connected between the feeder and working conductor is that the signal remains in operation as long as the switch is closed, which may be when no current is flowing through the pick-up coil. j

It will be evident now that as a car pass es any signal and renders alive the surface contact it accompanies the signal will be displayed in plain view of the motorman. If it should not be displayed, he will be advised that the circuit-controlling apparatus is out of order, and if it be already displayed before he reaches the section he will be advised that it exposes a live conductor on the track and needs immediate attention for'the protection of other than railway traffic.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. The combination with the feeder, of a sectional conductor, normally open connections between the former and the sections of the latter, electromagnetic switches for closing said connections, shunts to ground from said connections, and electrically-operated v signals in said shunts.

2. The combination with the feeder, of a sectional conductor, normally open connections between the former and the sections of the latter, electromagnetic switches for close ing said connections, shunts to ground from said connections between the switches and the conductor-sections, electromagnet-coils in said shunts, and semaphores actuated by said coils.

3. The combination with the feeder, of a sectional conductor, normally open connections between the former and the sections of the latter, electromagnetic switches for closing said connections, shunts to ground from said connections between the switches and conductor-sections, and electrically-operated signals in said shunts, which are operated when the collector of the car first engages a conductor-section, and which continue to be operated after the switch for that section is closed.

4. The combination with the feeder, of 'a sectional conductor, connections between the former and the sections of the latter, and connections to ground in shunt to the car-motors, and electrically-operated signals in the ground connections.

5. A signal system for a sectional-contact electric railway, comprising a plurality of signal devices corresponding to contact-sections,

a pick-up magnet controlled by the position of a traveling car for, rendering the sections alive, and a signal-controllin g circuit for each signal device in permanent connection elec- IIO trically with its corresponding contact-section.

6. In an electric-railway system, the'com scares bination with a sectional working conductor, of a return, a connection between each section of the working conductor and the return, an electrically-operated visual signal for each of such connections, and means for holding the signal in its operated position with less current than that used to move it to that position.

7. In an electric-railway system, the combination with a feeder, of a sectional working conductor, a sectional energizirig-conductor, a set of electromagnets each operated through a section of: the working conductor, a set of visual signals each operated by one of said electromagnets, a set of electromagnetic pick up switches each operated through a section of said energizing-conductor LO close a circuit between a section of the working conductor and the feeder, and to energize one of the signal-actuating electromagnets.

S. In an electric-railway s stem, the combination with a feeder, of a sectional working conductor, a sectional energizing-conductor, a set of electromagnets adapted to be ener gized Whenever a section of the working conductor is connected with the feeder, a set or" visual signals each operated by one of such electromagnets, and a set of electromagnetic switches each adapted to be operated through a section of the energizing-conductor to cut in a resistance with one of said signal-operating magnet-coils.

9. in an electric-railway system, the combination with a feeder, ot a sectional working conductor, a sectional energizingconductor, a set of electromagnets each adapted to be operated when a section of said working conductor is connected with the feeder, a set of visual signals each operated by one of said electromagnets, a second set of electromagnets, each energized through a section of said energizirig-conductor, a set of switches each operated by one of said second set of electromagnets to close the circuitbetween the feeder and a section of said working conductor to energize one of the signal-actuating electromagnets, and second set of switches each controlled by one of said second set of electromagnets and adapted to cut in a resistance with the coil or" a signal-operating electromagnet,

10. In an electric-railway system, the combination with a feeder, of a sectional working conductor, asectional energizing-00ndnctor, a set of electromagnets each adapted to be operated when a section of said working con ductor is connected with the feeder, a set of visual signals each operated by one of said electromagnets, a set of pick-up magnets each energized through a section of said energizing-conductor, a set of pick-up switches each operated by one of said set of pick-up magnets to close the circuit between the feeder and a section of said working conductor and to energize one of the signal-actuating magnets, and a second set of switches each adapted to cut in a resistance with a coil of a signaloperating magnet and each mechanically connected to one of said pick-up switches, whereby the resistance continues in circuit with the coil of said operating-magnet as long as such pick-up switch is closed.

11. In an electric-railway system, the combination with a feeder, of a sectional working conductor, a set of electrically-operated visual signals, one for each section of said working conductor, and a set of electrically-operated pick-up switches, each of which closes the circuit between a section of said working conductor and the feeder and simultaneously energizes the circuit of the corresponding signal.

12. In an electric-railway system, the combination with a feeder, of a return, a sectional working conductor, a sectional energizingconductor, a circuit including a pick-up magnet-coil between each section of the energizing-conductorand the return, anormally open circuit between each section of said working conductor and the feeder, a circuit including a signal magnet-coil between each section of said working conductor and the return, a signal operated by said magnet-coil, and means controlled by said pick-up magnet-coil for closing the feeder-circuit through the section of the working conductor and through said signal znagnet-coil and for simultaneously inserting a resistance in circuit with said signal magnet-coil.

13. In an electric-railway system, the combination with a feeder, of a return, a sectional working conductor, a sectional energizingconductor, a circuit including a pickup magnet-coil between each section of the energizing-conductorand the return, a normally open circuit between each section of such Working conductor and the feeder, a circuit including a signal magnet-coil between each section of said working conductor and return, a visual signal operated by said signal-coil, and means controlled by said pick up magnet-coil for closing the feeder-circuit through the section of working conductor and through the said signal magnet-coil and for inserting a resistance in series with said signal magnet-coil and said pick-up coil at the same time that the feeder and section of the working conductor are connected.

14-. in an electric-railway system, the con1- bination with a sectional working conductor, of a feeder, a return, a normally broken connection between each section of the working conductor and the feeder, a set of electromagnets, each having its coil in shunt between one ot said connections and the return, and a set of visual signals each operated by one of said sets of electromagnets.

15. In an electric-railway system, the combination with a sectional working conductor, of a set of electromagnets the coil of each of which is in circuit with one section of said working conductor, a set or" visual signals, each operated by one of said electromagnets, and means for reducing the current in the & 695,122

coil of such magnet after the signal has been operated.

16. In an electric-railway system, the combination with the feeder, of a sectional conductor, a plurality of electrically-operated signals corresponding in number to the number of sectionsin the sectional conductor, normally open connections between the feeder and the conductor-sections, electromagnetic to switches for closingsaid connections,a return,

and signal-controlling connections from sai connections to the return.

17. In an electric-railway system, the com bination with the feeder, of a sectional conductor, a plurality of electrically-operated signals, normally open connections between the feeder and conductor-sections, a return,

signal-controlling connections from said con- I nections to the return, resistances in said signal connections, shunts to the resistances, and

switches controlling the shunts.

18. In an electric-railway system, the combination with the feeder, of a sectional conductor, a plurality of electrically-operated signals, normally open connections between the feeder and conductor sections, electromagnetic feeder -'switches for said connections, 9. return, signal-controllin g connections from said normally open connections to the return, resistances in said connections, shunts for the resistances, and switches mechanically connected to the feeder-switches for opening the shunts around the resistances after the signals have been operated.

19. In an electric-railway system, the combination with the feeder, of a sectional conductor, a plurality of electrically-operated signals, normally open connections between the feeder and conductor sections, feeder- 4o switches for closing said connections, a return,

connections to the return containing resistances, signal -controlling connections from the feeder connections to said resistance connections, coils operating said feeder-switches and connected to said resistance connections, shunts around the resistances, and switches having mechanical connections with the feeder-switches, whereby when the latter are operated, the'shunts are opened toinsert the resistances in the signal-coil circuits. 5o

20. In an electric-railway system, the com- 0 bination with the feeder, of a sectional conductor, normally open connections between the former and the sections of the latter, elec-. tromagnetic switches for closing said connections, electromagnetically-operated signals, which are operated while said switches are closed, and means for reducing the flow of current through the signal magnet-coils after the signals have been operated. 6o

21. In an electric railway, the combination with the feeder, of normally dead power conductor-sections from which the car-motors receive current, connections between the feeder and conductor sections, means for automatically closing said connections, branches from points between the feeder and the car-motors, and electrically-operated signals in said branches.

22. In an electric railway, the combination with the mains, of normally dead power conductor-scctions and a suitable. return whereby the car-motors are connected across the mains, means for automatically energizing said power-sections, branches from the motor-circuits, and electrically-operated signals in said branches.

23. In an electric railway, the combination with the feeder, of conductor-sections from which the car-motors receive current, motor connections between said sections and the feeder, switches for automatically. closing said connections, branches from points between the switches and the car-motors, and electrically-operated signals in said branches.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 11th day of May, 1899.

SAMUEL B. STEWART, JR.

Witnesses:

BENJAMIN B. HULL, MABEL E. JAcoBsoN. 

